Punjab is already on an upward progression in readiness to implement a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) into the provincial EPI Service program. It comes after the adoption by the National Inter-Agency Coordination Committee (NICC) and the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG), Dr. Ilyas Gondal, Director General of Health Services Punjab, has said.
A stakeholders’ seminar on HPV carried by the EPI with UNICE-F support held at a local hotel on Wednesday saw Dr. Gondal sharing this update. A seminar was conducted in the IRMNCH with the following dignitaries & participants: Director EPI Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Director IRMNCH Program Dr. Khalil Ahmed Sakhani, other participants included federal Directorate of Immunization, WHO, UNICEF,, and some experts from John Hopkins University and the Gates Foundation.
While speaking in the seminar Dr. Gondal mentioned that the initiative was started with the support of Khawaja Imran Nazir, Minister of Primary and Secondary Healthcare. He pointed out that HPV is responsible for cervical cancer which is one of the major types of cancer affecting women worldwide and in Pakistan,, more than seventy-three point eight million women are at potential risk of HPV. Punjab has established the goal of introducing a vaccine by the second half of 2025; one year has been advised time by NICC and NITAG.
Dr Mukhtar Ahmed went on to say that the vaccine will be first administered to girls between the ages of 9 and 14 years. The campaign will be phased and will commence with a campaign that will later on join the routine EPI schedule. He said it also requires province-specific training on injection techniques, cold chain handling, reporting tools and software,, and IEC materials.
The HPV society’s international ambassador Dr Naureen Zafar added on the effect of HPV saying cervical cancer in many instances is undiagnosed for 10 to 12 years more often in LMICs. About the vaccine, she said that it decreases cervical cancer occurrence by up to 88%.